LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, requires the State Water Resources Control Board to administer provisions relating to the regulation of drinking water to protect public health, including, but not limited to, conducting research, studies, and demonstration programs relating to the provision of a dependable, safe supply of drinking water, enforcing the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, adopting implementing regulations, and conducting studies and investigations to assess the quality of water in private domestic water supplies. The act requires the state board to establish a grant program, in consultation with the State Department of Education, to award grants to local educational agencies for the purposes of improving access to, and the quality of, drinking water in public schools serving kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and preschools and child day care
facilities located on public school property.

This bill would require a community water system that serves a schoolsite of a local educational agency with a building constructed before January 1, 2010, to test for lead in the potable water system of the schoolsite before January 1, 2019. The bill would require the community water system to report its findings to the schoolsite, as specified, and, if the schoolsite’s lead level exceeds a certain level, to test a water sample from the point at which the schoolsite connects to the community water system’s supply network. The bill would require the local educational agency, if the lead level exceeds the specified level at a schoolsite, to notify the parents and guardians of the pupils who attend the schoolsite or preschool. The bill would require the local educational agency to take immediate steps to make inoperable and shut down from use all fountains and faucets where the
excess lead levels may exist and would require the local educational agency to work with the school site to ensure that a potable source of drinking water is provided for students. The bill would require a community water system to prepare a sampling plan for each schoolsite where lead sampling is required under these provisions. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Digest Key

Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 116277 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

116277.

(a) (1) A community water system that serves a schoolsite of a local educational agency with a building constructed before January 1, 2010, on that schoolsite shall test for lead in the potable water system of the schoolsite on or before July 1, 2019.

(2) The community water system shall report its findings to the schoolsite within 10 business days after the community water system receives the results from the testing laboratory or within two business days if it is found that the schoolsite’s lead level exceeds 15 parts per billion.

(3) If the lead level exceeds 15 parts per billion, the community water system shall also test a water sample from the point in
which the schoolsite connects to the community water system’s supply network to determine the lead level of the water entering the schoolsite from the community water system’s water supply network.

(b) (1) A local educational agency shall allow the community water system access to each of the local educational agency’s schoolsites that are subject to subdivision (a) to conduct testing.

(2) If the lead level exceeds 15 parts per billion, the local educational agency shall notify the parents and guardians of the pupils who attend the schoolsite or preschool where the elevated lead levels are found.

(c) (1) If lead levels exceed 15 parts per billion, the local educational agency shall take immediate steps to make inoperable and shut down from use all fountains and faucets
where the excess lead levels may exist. Additional testing may be required to determine if all or just some of the school’s fountains and faucets are required to be shut down.

(2) Each local educational agency shall work with the schoolsites within its service area to ensure that a potable source of drinking water is provided for students at each schoolsite where fountains or faucets have been shut down due to elevated lead levels. Providing a potable source of drinking water may include, but is not limited to, replacing any pipes or fixtures that are contributing to the elevated lead levels, providing onsite water filtration, or providing bottled water as a short-term remedy.

(d) Each community water system, in cooperation with the appropriate corresponding local educational agency, shall prepare a sampling plan for each schoolsite where lead sampling is required under
subdivision (a). The community water system and the local educational agency may request assistance from the state board or any local health agency responsible for regulating community water systems in developing the plan.

(e) This section shall not apply to a schoolsite that is subject to any of the following:

(1) The schoolsite was constructed or modernized after January 1, 2010.

(2) The local educational agency of the schoolsite is currently permitted as a public water system and is currently required to test for lead in the potable water system.

(3) The local educational agency completed lead testing of the potable water system after January 1, 2009, and posts information about the lead testing on the local educational agency’s public Internet Web
site, including, at a minimum, identifying any schoolsite where the level of lead in drinking water exceeds 15 parts per billion.

(4) The local educational agency has requested testing from its community water system consistent with the requirements of this section.

(f) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school located in a public facility.

(2) “Potable water system” means water fountains and faucets used for drinking or preparing food.

(g) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2019, and, as of January 1, 2020, is repealed.

SEC. 2.

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.